The customer buys a nice new bathroom – the glamorous bit – leaving the installer to turn the dream into reality. The consumer really doesn’t want to know or has little interest in where the water (and, even worse, waste) goes or how it gets there - that’s the plumber’s job. The application of best practice, together with good products, ensures a quality installation. However, the constraints of each individual layout will often make this a challenging task and could make the difference between the job being done ‘right first time’ or an unhappy customer who complains of gurgling wastes and, in the worst case, of pipe blockages.

So the key to choosing materials, be that for a domestic or commercial application has to be to opt for a system, which makes your life as simple as possible and helps you make a good quality, time efficient installation.

The first choice is for a soil and waste solution which offers you all the flexibility and proven track record of reliability, meaning that you are never stuck for an answer to that drainage challenge. Call backs are the installer’s nightmare – they cost time and therefore money and mean dissatisfied customers who as a result may not come back to you again even if you do put the problem right. A proven reputation for reliability is your guarantee that you can fit and forget all the soil and waste pipework, which will make Mrs Jones’s bathroom a joy and delight for years to come.

And if you do come across a situation for which there is no standard solution, then Geberit has a special fabrication service ready to help by designing and producing bespoke solutions to overcome those otherwise insurmountable challenges. As well as making one-off specials, the fabrication service can produce prefabricated stacks and other piping elements in a quality controlled environment, eliminating a considerable amount of on-site installation work, on larger jobs especially.

The Geberit philosophy is to actively seek out comments from installers with a regular forum of installers commenting on problems, special needs and potential areas for development. And then acting on this information to design new products to meet these needs.

A further and important development in soil and waste market for Geberit is the growth of HDPE piping systems. HDPE is specifically suitable for applications where high impact, abrasion, chemical resistance or extreme temperatures are likely to be a requirement. It provides greater installation flexibility with a wide range of jointing options including butt-welding, electro-fusion and mechanical jointing. This ensures quick, clean reliable and cost effective installation compared to traditional competitors such as cast iron in particular.

As a leading supplier of HDPE pipework systems, Geberit has reported sales up in excess of 30% in the last half year. HDPE is becoming a preferred specification for many commercial installations such as schools e.g. in science labs where chemicals are involved, because of their durability, strength and versatility. HDPE also particularly lends itself to off site construction either by the manufacturer to detailed drawings or on site in special prefabrication facilities where conditions allow for accurate and quality controlled fabrication prior to onward delivery to the particular area of the site where the assemblies are required.

There really is an awful lot more to today’s drainage systems than meets the eye. Specifiers and installers are well aware of the need for a reliable system, which is as easy and quick to install as possible and the continual investment, improvements and new product developments makes sure that’s exactly what they get. Whilst existing products perform perfectly well, there is a continual programme of challenge to ensure the product and its method of installation are improved at any possible opportunity.

Maintaining a product range that moves with industry and installer needs provides confidence for all concerned; Mrs Jones is happy with a bathroom or kitchen which performs as she expects and, most importantly, from a manufacturers perspective, the installer can have complete confidence in the reliability, quality and efficiency of his installation.